Confidence has often been described as the single greatest contributor to an athlete’s success. It is also, unfortunately, a fickle and frail ally, as apt to abandon the unprepared as embrace the deserving. While the role of confidence is touted, the mechanisms of confidence are less well understood. Let’s change that.

Does being fitter also make you tougher? Does improved fitness actually alter pain tolerance? Cycle sport is intricately mythologized with the heroism and agony of suffering. We watch and marvel not just at the speed and power of the pros, but for the thrill (for us) and suffering (for them) inherent in racing over cobbles, high mountains rain, extreme heat, and even snow.

Another article on goal setting? Really? How hard can it be? If 2014 was everything you planned it to be, congratulations and no need to read any further. However, if things got away from you or you are ending the year feeling that things were left undone, read on for more information on how to make the most of your goals.

Hard day, easy day, repeat. Most athletes are familiar with the core tenant of periodized training. The concept is often lost when it comes time to apply it to the bigger training picture. The need for a recovery phase following the 'hard ' part of the season is often over looked, undervalued and misunderstood.

This year’s Tour de France will record a DNF next to major players such as Cavendish, Froome, and Contador. While injuries and crashes are a part of the sport, facing the choice to ‘abandon’ mid race or mid stage can be demoralizing. Without proper support this decision can haunt an athlete, undermining self-confidence and ultimately hurt performance.

Preparation is important in any sport but especially in cycling. With so many uncontrollable variables in this sport, anything you can do to control what can be controlled will improve your chance at success, however you may define it. Let's look at a key part of good preparation today that could completely transform your perfromance - good mental preparation.

Negative thinking, especially during difficult rides, will certainly hurt your cycling confidence and prevent you from riding your best and achieving your cycling goals. Your goal is to retrain your negative thinking into positive thinking and high confidence that propels you to your very best rides.

Frustration may be your most significant obstacle to achieving your cycling goals. We feel stuck, we tense up, and we have difficulty focusing. The best way I can describe the feeling is: AAARRGGHH!! It is a truly infuriating feeling. But does it always have to be a bad thing?

More than ever with all the controversy in professional cycling the last few years, focusing on a proper environment for younger riders to develop, with strong support and mentorship and a process rather than result-driven philosophy is critical to the future of the sport.

The challenge cyclists face is that different types of races and even different points in a race require different levels of intensity. Sometimes you need to be really relaxed and other times you need to be in a full froth of adrenalin and aggression. How do you juggle and mix your psychological intensity?

Intensity may be the most important contributor to cycling performance once the race begins. It’s so important because all of the motivation, confidence, focus, and emotions in the world won’t help you if your body is not physiologically capable of doing what it needs to do for you to ride your best.

The Central Governor hypothesis proposes that our brains ultimately governs how hard we’re willing to ride, so it makes a great target for manipulating to improve our performance. How might we practically use this ability to ride faster?

Many things go wandering through between our ears over the course of a time trial. We do our best to ignore the constant chorus of pain and agony. One way to do that is to tell ourselves some stories, like maybe we’re doing better than we actually are. Can lying to yourself make you faster?

Negative thinking, especially during difficult rides, will certainly hurt your cycling confidence and prevent you from riding your best and achieving your cycling goals. Your goal is to retrain your negative thinking into positive thinking and high confidence that propels you to your very best rides.

Many serious cyclists dream of their children finding fame and fortune on a bike, following in the footsteps of other great young riders including Tejay van Garderen and Taylor Phinney. But the question to ask is what does it take to become a great cyclist? There are three components (pun intended)…

There are three things that impact how well you ride in training and races: your innate ability, the difficulty of the race (course, weather, field), and your motivation. Motivation is the only one of these that you can control, so that is where you should direct your focus and energy.

A difficulty with dealing with the mental aspects of cycling is that they’re not tangible or easily measured. If you want to learn what are your physical strengths and weaknesses on the bike, you can have your wattage or VO2 Max tested, and that gives you objective data about your physical condition. There is unfortunately, no way to measure your mental “muscles” directly. Think of Prime Cycling profiling as physical testing for the mind. It makes mental issues related to cycling more concrete.

In my last article, I looked at the issue of sports confidence by comparing and contrasting two recent days I had on the bike, one full of fire and confidence and the other the opposite feelings of self-doubt and thoughts of quitting. But enough about rank amateurs like me, what about the top professionals?

When cycling, we are all seeking the Holy Grail of peak fitness and form, that “no chains” day where riding seems effortless. But besides optimal physical preparation, the other important and often overlooked ingredient is effective sport psychology, and the role that confidence plays in peak performance.

Prime Cycling is defined as “performing at a consistently high level under the most challenging conditions.” Prime Cycling is a goal toward which everyone in the cycling world should strive, the result of which is to maximize your riding efforts and enable you to achieve your cycling goals.